Venezuelans blame government for power blackouts

Yet President Nicolas Maduro justifies his expulsion of three U.S. diplomats by saying the trio had attempted to sabotage the South American country´s power grid.

A fan looks at his laptop as he waits for play to resume at a FIBA World Cup qualifying basketball game during a power outage in Caracas on Sept. 3. The massive blackout generated estimated losses of up to $1 billion to the economy.(Photo: Ariana Cubillos, AP)

Story Highlights

Power grid "is in complete abandonment," analyst says

There were 800 blackouts in 2012, and the trend continues this year

Hundreds of thousands hook up cables to power lines for free electricity

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro justified his expulsion of three U.S. diplomats earlier this week by saying the trio had attempted to sabotage the South American country´s power grid.

But the crisis in the country´s power grid has little to do with sabotage, analysts say. Years of mismanagement, lack of maintenance, and frozen power rates have wrecked havoc with a electricity grid that is simply falling apart.

"We have grid that is in complete abandonment," says Jose Manuel Aller, a Caracas-based electricity analyst. "There is no kind of maintenance, and repairs are only taken on an emergency basis. There is no planning; there is only improvisation."

According to Aller, the number of blackouts, classified as anything above 100 megawatts (which is enough to power a city of 200,000) have soared in the last decade.

In 2004, they averaged about 40 a year. In 2011 there were 430; it 2012 they nearly doubled to 800. This year's blackout number is on the same pace as last year's. This from a country that has the largest proven oil reserves in the world.

Because of the sensitivity of the problem the government has stopped publishing blackout figures, saying only that the number of outages is falling amid greater investments.

Few believe them.

"Our power system is a disaster,"says Simon Garcia, 42, a butcher in the central city of Maracay, who says the constant blackouts forced him to buy his own power generator to keep his meat refrigerated.

"We have the world´s largest oil reserves, and yet we can´t even keep the lights on."

The costs to the country are enormous. A nationwide blackout on Sept. 3, which Maduro and Electricity Minister Jesse Chacon blamed on sabotage, generated estimated losses of up to $1 billion to the economy.

Years of socialism under late president Hugo Chavez have taken a toll on the effectiveness and manageability of Venezuela's power distribution system.

Venezuela has the region´s highest per capita power consumption as well as its lowest rates, which were frozen in 2003 by Chavez. As a result, many Venezuelans pay a token tariff of less than $1 a month for up to 200 kw/hour.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans hook up their own cables to power lines illegally to get free electricity. Overall, about 40% of all electricity generated isn´t paid for, according to government and industry figures.

Maduro, whose popularity is plummeting in the face of food shortages, and soaring inflation and crime, has attempted to blame saboteurs — both domestic and foreign — for the country´s woes. Whether voters buy it will become apparent in local elections on Dec. 8.

"It is abundantly clear that Maduro sees conspiracy theories as his key rhetorical strategy for explaining his government´s shortcomings," says David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America. "At least with the electricity crisis, polls show that less than 5% of the population believe him. The majority puts the blame squarely on the government."

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski concurs, saying Maduro´s constant harping about sabotage in the country´s power grid, as well as the state oil company, Caracas Metro, and other industries, is a "smokescreen to distract the people so they don't focus on our daily problems."

Chacon, who promised to resign if he couldn't right the country´s power woes in 100 days following his appointment in April, has backed away from his earlier deadline. His latest plan is to import millions of energy saving light bulbs from China.

For Garcia, the butcher, that's little solace.

"We´re paying the price for years of incompetence and lack of maintenance," says Garcia. "And it´s only getting worse. Maduro doesn't seem to understand that. But then again, I doubt he has to worry about the power going out."